Memory problems that are normal:

Taking several minutes to recall where you have put your keys or where you parked your car.

Forgetting to return a call

Remembering names of people especially not close to you.

Briefly forgetting the name of a place or the word of something.

Why does this happen? Your brain is programmed to keep relevant information and discard unimportant information. According to Dr. Oliver Cockerell, a consultant neurologist at The London Clinic, your short-term memory is easily distractible.

Memory problems that might be worth further investigation:

Incidents whereby you can’t find your keys or vehicle on a regular basis.

Regularly forgetting the names of close relatives and friends.

Telling the same story or repeating the same question.

Multi-tasking of regular tasks becomes difficult.

An extrovert is becoming an introvert.

Be warned this might be early signs of Alzheimer’s or dementia and not just a sign of lack of concentration.

Seek help if:

Not recognizing friends and family.

Everyday tasks cannot be done due to memory loss.

Cannot put the family structure together, who is the father and mother of your grandchildren.
Familiar places become unfamiliar.

Placing things where they don’t belong. For example, putting the car keys in the fridge.

Alzheimer’s patients cannot transfer short-term memories into long-term memories therefor the short-term memories are lost while long-term memory is usually unaffected. The study shows that women with memory problems 70% more likely to develop dementia.

2. Experiencing déjà vu

Associative déjà vu is experienced by healthy people reliant on memory with certain parts of the brain being the driving force. Biological déjà vu is directly related to people with temporal lobe epilepsy, and the déjà vu occurs just before a person has a seizure. This experience is a neurological related epileptic discharge in the brain relating to experiences in the past.

Cryptomnesia is another possibility of déjà vu. This is where information is forgotten but stored in the brain, and as soon as something similar occurs, it leads to the feeling of familiarity.

Certain drugs or a forgotten dream can also contribute to a déjà vu experiences.

3. Hearing things

If what you heard doesn’t have a logical explanation, it might be an auditory hallucination also known as a musical hallucination. It could be a simple sound, or it could be a song that repeats itself in your consciousness, this is referred to as an earworm.

Common known causes:

4. Waking up being unable to move

This is called sleeping paralysis happening in the early morning hours just before you wake up. Except for eye movement and breathing, all muscles become paralyzed. You awake from sleep, but the REM paralysis continues for a few more moments.

Sleep paralysis a sign that your body does not move smoothly through the stages of sleep. Pressure or a sense of choking is also reported. A know sleep disorder is Narcolepsy an overpowering need to sleep as the brain is unable to regulate sleep.

Sleep paralysis has been explained in many ways over the centuries and was often attributed to an evil presence and unseen night demons are terrifying helpless humans at night.

5. Waking up with scratches, paranormal, supernatural?

There are many possible explanations for these scratches. The most common cause usually is scratching or bumping yourselves during the night. Other known reasons are:

Medical causes are scabies and dermatographia. Scabies is contagious and causes itching. Dermatographia is “a condition known as skin writing a light scratch goes red similar to hives.

Demonic Attacks reports of unexplained scratches involving a burning sensation and often is a set of three straight lines.According to Manchester Paranormal Investigations (MPI), what people interpret as a demon attack is often an angry spirit.

“I don’t agree that life favors the prepared mind because life made me lose my mind.”
― Luffina Lourduraj

This article is copyrighted material and not permitted to reproduce, publish, sell, or distribute without asking for prior permission by The Open Mind.